Purdue Student, in a First, Earns a Double Doctorate

By DENNIS HEVESI

Published: August 8, 1994

Inspired by the comic-book character Spiderman and a firefighter who told him he could accomplish anything he applied his mind to, a Purdue University student yesterday became the first in the nation to be awarded two doctorates simultaneously.

As 800 graduates crossed the stage in the Purdue Hall of Music in West Lafayette, Ind., the procession halted as 31-year-old Harry Kloor, of Portland, Ore., was double-hooded with two blue, black and gold hoods -- one for his Ph.D. in physics, the other for his Ph.D. in chemistry.

Mr. Kloor's adviser, Ephraim Fischbach, said he was amazed that his student had "written two independent, brilliant theses in completely different fields; I've never seen anything like it."

"What's intimidating is that in four months he wrote these two theses totaling more than 700 pages," Dr. Fischbach said. "And I'm struggling to write a book with a co-author and we've barely done 200 pages in several years."

Dr. Fischbach said that Purdue officials had checked with the National Research Council, the Council of Graduate Schools and the Department of Education, and that all agreed that Mr. Kloor was the first to earn simultaneous doctorates.

It was nothing new to Mr. Kloor. In 1986, he earned simultaneous bachelor's degrees, also in physics and chemistry, graduating summa cum laude from Southern Oregon State College. "In my opinion," Mr. Kloor said before yesterday's ceremony, "anybody could do this if they set their mind to it."

Sure, anyone can write a physics dissertation about the search for a fifth fundamental force in nature and, at the same time, write a chemistry dissertation explaining the way magnetite, otherwise known as lodestone, drastically changes its properties at minus 238 degrees Fahrenheit.

It was in grade school, Mr. Kloor said, that he first came to believe he could accomplish anything. "A fireman came into our classroom and said, 'You can do anything you set your mind to,' and I took that as a statement of fact," he said.

Besides scientists and science-fiction writers, Mr. Kloor found inspiration in Spiderman. "He was a physics student in the story and was created when a spider got into the mix of some experiment," Mr. Kloor said. "A perfect role model for a little kid."

Mr. Kloor's mother, Mary, is not sure what drives her son. "His father and I both were good in math, bookkeeping, but neither of us went to college," she said. "It's been this way with Harry since first grade: straight A's. One time he got an A minus on a test and he went to the teacher and the principal and proved he was right. They made the mistake, not him."

And now that he is Dr. Kloor, twice over, what will he do? "I'll weigh some offers," he said, "but not until I complete work on a $900,000 grant I have from the National Science Foundation. It involves enlarging a program at Purdue that brings high school girls to a science camp and provides them with mentors."

Photo: Harry Kloor getting two doctoral hoods yesterday at Purdue University's commencement. He was also wearing a stole from Drew University, which had given him an honorary degree. (Mary Ann Carter for The New York Times)